Morrison Bridge path construction starts today

Construction of a new bicycle and pedestrian path across the Morrison bridge begins this afternoon.

The Morrison bridge has the lowest bicyclist use of the five downtown bridges open to cyclists. The $1.9 million project will create a shared, 15-foot-wide path on the south side of the bridge, between Southwest Alder Street and Southwest Naito Parkway and Southeast Water Avenue. The new bridge path will replace an existing 5-foot sidewalk.

Traffic impacts include:

The bridge offramp to Southeast Water Avenue will close to vehicles this afternoon or tomorrow and remain closed for several months. The ramp sidewalk will remain open until Monday.

The bridge on-ramp from Southwest Naito Parkway will close this afternoon or tomorrow and remain closed until the Rose Festival in June. The ramp sidewalk will remain open until Monday.

The southbound lane of Southeast Water Avenue will be closed between Southeast Yamhill Street and Southeast Belmont Street for several days starting Monday. Flaggers will direct two-way traffic during the day. All lanes will be open at night.